This is a discussion on Vancouver Island Poker Run within the Meetings and Events forums, part of the Canada category; Thumbs up Vancouver Island Poker Run 2011 - 2nd Annual Charity Event
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Just a heads up, I am starting ...

I am planning a few changes to the format of last year's event. There were some logistical issues with using playing cards. As well some people that didn't actually play poker, didn't know what hands they had, and lastly, from what I understand, some people were exchanging cards between one another before turning their hands in.

This year to avoid all of this I am going to replace playing cards with a token that will have a number on it. If we have 50 cars registered, there will be 75 numbered tokens at each checkpoint, all in a bag. Each token will be numbered from 1 - 75 (again assuming 50 cars, there will be 25 more tokens than the total number of cars). When you arrive at a checkpoint you select a token and move on to the next checkpoint. At the end of the event you simply add up the numbers on the token and the highest number wins. We would probably have an award for the lowest hand as well (not sure yet which positions will get prize money).

Also there will be two types of participants, those that know the island and want to just get to the checkpoints and finish the route. They can go as a group or as singles. They just take off and do the route at their own pace. A second group will be those that want to see the island and take their time completing the route. Remember that speed is not part of the event, it doesn't matter how fast you finish. This second group will travel together and we will assign locals to this group. They will take the scenic routes along the water. When registering please let me know which group you see yourself in.

The event this year will be open to all Japanese Imports. If you don't drive a Japanese Import but would like to participate, contact me. If you have any questions please fire them PM me or fire me an email at dave.donovan@elocas.com

All proceeds from this event go directly to Camp Shaw****n on Vancouver Island. This is a special camp for severely disabled kids and terminally ill children. They try to squeeze some normality into the lives of some very special kids. It costs about $2,500.00 to send one child to camp. Some kids can't afford that with the added costs of their ailments. Help us to help them.

Thanks for reading and I hope you can make an effort to attend. If you wish to donate and cannot attend, contact me and we can find a way for you to do that. Thanks again and drive safe.

Here is the link to this years event over in the Vancouver S2Ki forum.

What is a Poker Run? Since I have been asked I thought I would basically explain a poker run and how it works, or at least how we did it last year.

A poker run is a rally that doesn't have anything to do with speed. Everyone starts from the same location and either travels as a group or single and heads to a common ending point (in our case Mt Washington Resort in the Comox Valley). Along the route there are checkpoints that each vehicle must get to. You are supplied with a detailed map but none of the locations are hard to find. For those that know the island they can take off as a single or as a group and head whatever way they wish. Those that don't know the island and want to have more of the scenic tour can go with another group that will have some local owners and we will take the ocean routes to the checkpoints.

At each checkpoint will be a deck of cards. Each car selects a card. If you don't like the card you get, you can pre-purchase "mulligan" tickets which allow you to exchange the card at the checkpoint and return the card you first selected. Mulligan tickets are purchased at the start of the event and you can only purchase 3 tickets. Of course you "draw" a card you don't get to see what it is until after you have it in your hand.

Once you get to the finish you should have 5 or 7 cards depending on how many checkpoints there are. From those cards you make the best poker hand you can and submit it to the event people. We have a nice sit down dinner at Mt Washington Resort (last year was BBQ Salmon and Corn on the Cob with a great selection of salads and other nice things). During the dinner you are encouraged to purchase tickets for the silent auction items with all proceeds going to Camp Shaw****n. After dinner we award the silent auction items and we then award prize money to the 1st, and 2nd, and 3rd place card hands.

After that we have the bar and the facilities until midnight and this year we may have a live Classic Rock band to perform for us. Rumour is there may be a bit of open mike as well if someone wants to start their new career!

Well I have confirmed that August 20th is still the date. I have to have the deposit money ($500.00) up to them by end of this month. This shouldn't be an issue as the Island owners have put together over $300.00 and Victoria (Campus) Honda is again going to sponsor our event and last year they provided us with a $500.00 expenses sponsorship cheque. This was the only weekend available to us.

We have had a local classic rock band contact us and they want to throw in some sponsorship by playing for us for free. We just need to cover their gas costs. Mt Washington has no problem with this as long as they setup and tear down themselves and we rent a carpet to protect the floor.

We have so far received sponsorship agreements from the following:- Campus Honda- Wind Restrictor (custom etched windscreens - between the seats of some convertibles like ours).- Mt. Washington Resort - ski passes and tubing passes.- Allen Berg F1 racing school (one pass must be used by end of September).- The Bread Garden- 5252 Motorsports- A&J Racing

Thanks to all the sponsors thus far. Lastly I wanted to point out that last year some people attended the event and made it back to the mainland same day. We have setup the poker run so that people on the island leave first. That gives anyone visiting the island enough time to catch a morning ferry and still participate. In the evening we had the prizes and the dinner over in time to catch the Nanaimo ferry back to the mainland, so for those of you wondering, this entire event can be done in one day without having to spend the night up at the mountain. You would be looking at about 3 hours driving during the event, then Nanaimo is about an hour and a bit from the mountain. The starting spot for the Poker Run is about 25 minutes from the Vancouver Island Ferry.

I am very pleased with the pre-registration again this year. Thanks to all of you that have decided to help out and donate your time and money to such a worthy cause.

This includes
. entry to the event
. sit down dinner at Mt Washington
. donation to the charity - Camp Shaw****n
. gratuity and taxes for the facilities staff

Mt Washington has also offered us a discount on rooms up there for the Saturday night. Rooms have to be booked through the company that I am dealing with though so please contact me if you wish to book a room. I also found rooms and entire townhomes/condo's here for a very good price:

There will also be silent auction items at the event. Tickets for the silent auction will be in $5.00, $10.00, and $25.00 increments. This means that the most you would pay for any one item would be $25.00. People purchase the tickets in the numeration that they wish. Items are placed on a table with a minimum bid in the amounts above. So less expensive items would be in a $5.00 category, and more expensive items would be in the $25.00 category and so on.

After a nice Banquet dinner we select the auction winners, select the Poker Hand winners, and the rest of the evening we have a bar and a Classic Rock Band. The Band is going to be very informal in that they are going to play and if you want to come up and sing or join in a jam session you can. If you wish to dance you can. If you just wish to sit and listen to the band, you can.

The Poker Run itself will take about 3.5 hours to complete depending on which group you decide to cruz with (scenic or the faster crowd). Rooms are available at a discounted rate. Event is setup so anyone from the Mainland can do it in one day and not have to spend the night.

Great people, great cause and great cars! Our sponsors will be putting on little events as we pull into the assortment of check spots which are still being drawn up.

If anyone knows of any businesses that would like to sponsor the event with either some auction items, freebies, or a cash donation please contact me. If you would like to make a cash donation either because you can't attend or you want to throw in a little extra, again please contact me and THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Hope to see you out there. Can't wait to see the assortment of cars. Stay tuned for a list of auction items and I will be putting up a Web Site to keep the sponsor information on.

As for deadlines:
- must confirm your attendance = 2 months in advance (Mid June).
- must have money in for tickets = 1 month before the event (Mid July).
- drop dead date = First week of August.

Remember that I am using the numbers to estimate prizes, inform sponsors so they know how many to expect if they are a checkpoint, to arrange a facility up at Mt Washington that accommodates all of us, and to estimate food costs. If we get out at least 60 people, the costs at Mt Washington are cut pretty much in half making more money available for the charity (Camp Shawnigan for disabled children).

Thanks again for all you early registrations. If you wish to go ahead and pay for your tickets contact me and we can setup a method of payment.

Note recieved from one of our sponsors ..., This is truely great news! Sokha is a manager over at The Honda Way in Abbotsford..., once again this year they are jumping on the sponsorship for the Poker Run in a very big way...,

Hey Dave,

Just a heads up that The Honda Way will be participating once again in EPIC PROPORTIONS as we did last year. We gave out a few Vegas Trips and the Alan Berg Racing School in Alberta.

This is our commitment to the S2k community and the children that Dave can with all our help send to camp. Let this be the unofficial Yes as I begin to hit the drawing board with Brian and Pat from The Honda Way. As usual, you will be hearing from Dave and myself in terms of what contributions we will be expecting!

FYI for any of you who was able to make it to our Show n Shine last year, our dealership with your help was able to raise $3,800 for Canuck Place! That is awesome what we can achieve when we all come together to make things happen!

Also, I will be contacting the winners of last years prizes to see if they can provide any pictures so that we may be able to put them on our facebook page. (winners of the Vegas and Alan Berg racing School)

On a side note, we have a lot full of amazing Ap1 and Ap2s on our lot that need new homes. Please feel free to Contact me by PM or 778-999-9164.

Just recieved confirmation on the cost of rooms up at Mt Washington resort, for those intending on spending the evening:

Lodge room in Deer for $99 + taxes
Range is $99-$189 (3 bedroom)

"Best to call
250-338-4383 or toll free 1-877-845-4499, and please ask them to be
consistent with who they say they are with - I think last year we had a
few different names floating around. Poker Run participant?"

Hey just wanted to let you know that Saunders Subaru is now onboard sponsoring the event. They are going to provide some swag and raffle items specific to the Subaru owners. They have also offered to advertise the event on their big sign board...,

1) The date is set . The event will be August 20th. Facilities and staff are booked adn paid for. I have also paid for bar service up until midnight so we can party a bit up at the mountain.

2) Saunders Subaru is now onboard for sponsorship and will be providing some swag for the WRX crowd.
- On this note if anyone knows of any sponsors that might be interested in providing either cash donation, freebies, raffle items please let me know or contact them yourselves to see if they might be interested in adding in some sponsorship. These can be any business what so ever but I am also targetting the dealerships.

3) Starting location and the Pre-meet have been determined and arranged as have 3 of the 7 checkpoints.

4) If you are at all interested in this event please let me know so I can get you on the list. All I need is first name for you and your passenger, an email address, and your home city.

5) Costs are as follows: Car and Driver = $100.00; Passenger = $50.00; bring money for the raffles as well..., some great prizes.

6) Accomodations on the mountain for $99 - $189 depending on what you want. Please remember that you can attend the event and head back after the awards and still make Victoria or Vancouver. The last ferry out of Nanaimo is 11:45 and some participants did this last year.

Duncan (Discovery) Honda contacted me yesterday and wanted to ensure that they were included in our planning for the 2011 Poker Run. Again they wish to participate as a checkpoint which I think all those that attended last year can agree is a great thing. They put on a BBQ and had the parking lot all setup with flagmen and everything. They were one of the more active sponsors.

We now have all the island Honda Dealerships on board. We currently have 59 cars pre-registered and 97 people. This is truly excellent. With these types of numbers we should be able to send a number of disabled and terminally ill kids to camp. Not to mention giving the loving families of these special kids a break.

I am starting to collect money for the event now. Unfortunately I don't use PayPal. For those of you that are in Canada I have been using Interact Money Transfers which work really well. You don't have to provide any banking information to me at all. All you need is my email address. The entire process is handled by your bank and my bank and the transaction is monitored by Interact. Unfortunately this is not setup in the US and as such I can only accept Interact Money Transfers from Canadian residents at the moment. Those of you wishing to pay that don't want to use Interact Money Transfer can simply snail mail me a cheque.

Here is the link to the Interact Money Transfer site. They have a list of all participating banking institutions on this page. If your bank is listed then you are good to go. All you do is log into your bank, there should be a link to Interact Money Transfer. You pick the account and the amount and hit send. Interact puts a hold on your cash (the selected amount) and sends me an email. I then go to my bank online and accept the transfer..., easy peasy, and no exchange of ANY banking information. There is also a demo on the Interact page:

The costs are as follows:
Car and Driver ==> $100.00
Passengers ==> $50.00

This includes participation, and banquet dinner at Mt Washington Resort.

Other things to think of:1) Accommodations if you are planning on spending the night on the mountain. I have arranged special pricing for accommodations on the mountain. Rooms can be had for between 99 - 189 Cdn per night depending on the type of accommodations you are looking for. You can also go to the Mt Washington site and rent private accommodations (town homes, condo's) and they are very inexpensive and you could share them as they are all pretty large. Last year I got a condo that sleeps 10 for $75.00/night. Here is the link:Mt Washington Accomodations Site

Remember that this event can be done in one day. You don't need to spend the night. If I know which ferry you are arriving on I can arrange for you to leave with a later group. After the event and dinner and prizes are awarded, we do this early enough that you can still catch the Nanaimo Ferry over to the mainland. Last Ferry leaves at 11:45 and Mt Washington is about an hour and a bit from the terminal. A few people did this last year without any problems.

2) Raffle: There will be a raffle of donated items to help raise money. We sell raffle tickets in the amount of $5, $10, and $25 dollar amounts. Each item is priced accordingly. You put your ticket into the buckets of items you are interested in and we draw the winners during the evening. Last year almost everyone went home with something thanks to some great sponsorship.

3) There will be a bar available up until midnight for those that wish to hang around.

I will get the menu posted up as soon as it is confirmed. Thanks again to all those that have donated funds and their time to help me help the kids!

Not much to pass on. Still collecting sponsorship and gathering raffle items for the event. If anyone has any ideas on businesses that might be interested in throwing in some cash donations or raffle items (gift certificates) please contact them or let me know and I can contact them. With this event being open to all Japanese Import sports cars, I am having some issues with finding raffle items for other make/models of car. If anyone can help out, I appreciate it. Doesn't have to be auto related even. We have some restaurants involved and I was thinking of hitting up some meat shops to get some meat to raffle off as well.

It is time to for me to start thinking of collecting payment for this event. I need to have everyone paid up by mid July but I am accepting payments now. I have two options for you. One is Interact Money Transfer, the other would be to snail mail me a cheque. Please contact me for details.

Current participation is at 61 cars and 100 people. That is amazing..., Thanks to everyone.

Again not much new to report. Nanaimo Honda has gotten back to me and they are online with sponsorship again this year. That makes it ALL the Honda dealerships putting forward sponsorship for the event. We also have Saunders Subaru here in Victoria.

I am having some issues contacting or getting a response from Nissan/Infinity and Mazda dealerships for sponsorship. I have contacted all dealerships in Victoria and have not received any response. I will physically be meeting with them soon. If anyone has any inside privileges with any of these dealerships please either pass me a name or approach them yourselves on my behalf. We are looking for any of the following:

Last point is it is time to start committing to the event by purchasing your event tickets. Prices are $100.00 for car and driver, $50.00 for a passenger. This includes the event as well as a donation for the charity, and a wonderful sit down dinner at Mt Washington. Please if you can start thinking of firing me a cheque or contact me on how to do an Interact Money Wire online. Again for the money transfer you don't have to supply me with ANY banking or personal information.

If you can't make it out please let me know and I will get your name off the list. Feel free to fire us a donation anyway though!

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